Efficacy Albendazole and Levamisole Against STH on Unguja

Field epidemiological studies undertaken during 2005 in four village locations in Northern Unguja, Zanzibar examined mothers and their pre-school aged children for helminth infections. The prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides was found to have remained relatively high despite community-wide treatment with the mass administration of Albendazole (a WHO recommended de-wormer) in coordination with community vitamin A supplementation. One hypothesis for this is that the children and mothers had Ascaris infections more tolerant to Albendazole that subsequently failed to clear. It is necessary to compare the present drug efficiency of Albendazole (first-line de-wormer) with Levamisole (second-line de-wormer) on STH infections such patients a case-control setting to shed light on the putative resistance of local Ascaris/Trichuris to albendazole. In so doing, this should clarify whether there is resistance developing towards Albendazole and have possible implications for introducing combination therapies of Levamisole and Albendazole for first line de-worming mothers and their children in the future.